A coalition of organized labor groups, acting at the request of the Northern California Newspaper Guild, on Thursday urged a subscription boycott of the Sacramento Bee newspaper to protest a breakdown in contract negotiations over merit wage increases. Following the example of other unions, the Guild is looking for ways to put pressure on management without calling a strike, according to Jerry Rocker, a unit administrative officer.

SACRAMENTO -- The state Assembly is expected to vote swiftly Monday to add $2 million to the secretary of state's budget to speed up the processing of business paperwork. The office relies on a system of paper and not computerized filings for corporate, partnership and other business records that an entrepreneur must submit before hiring workers, opening doors or selling products. The $2-million appropriation, which must be approved also by the state Senate, would allow Secretary of State Debra Bowen to increase the pace of her operations for the rest of the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. The goal is get all documents processed within five days of being received in Sacramento.

The Sacramento Bee won the Pulitzer Prize gold medal for public service Tuesday for a series of 15 stories on environmental threats and damage to the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Bee reporter Deborah Blum also won a Pulitzer--in the beat reporting category--for "The Monkey Wars," stories examining the moral and ethical issues involved in primate research. The New York Times and Newsday joined the Bee in winning two Pulitzers each.

McClatchy Inc., owner of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Sacramento Bee, received at least three bids for two Philadelphia newspapers that it plans to sell as part of its purchase of publisher Knight Ridder Inc. David Black, chief executive of Canada's Black Press Ltd., said he made an offer.

SACRAMENTO -- The state Assembly is expected to vote swiftly Monday to add $2 million to the secretary of state's budget to speed up the processing of business paperwork. The office relies on a system of paper and not computerized filings for corporate, partnership and other business records that an entrepreneur must submit before hiring workers, opening doors or selling products. The $2-million appropriation, which must be approved also by the state Senate, would allow Secretary of State Debra Bowen to increase the pace of her operations for the rest of the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. The goal is get all documents processed within five days of being received in Sacramento.

Investigators from Cal/EPA searched the press room of the Sacramento Bee, apparently looking for evidence of illegally disposed hazardous wastes. The investigators used a search warrant to enter the building Monday. The newspaper uses ink, cleaning solvents and other chemicals to print its editions. A spokesman said the Bee complies with all federal, state and local regulations that cover the storage and disposal of hazardous substances used at its plant.

Sacramento Kings' center Ralph Sampson threatened to beat up a newspaper reporter, apparently over a column that called the former All-Star one of basketball's "great disappointments." Sampson interrupted an interview Sacramento Bee reporter R.E. Graswich was holding with Kings' player personnel director Jerry Reynolds before Tuesday's 114-105 loss to the Clippers. "If you ever write something about me without talking to me again, I'll punch you in the nose," the Bee quoted Sampson as saying.

The Sacramento Bee apologized Tuesday to readers who were offended by its use of a racial epithet in an editorial cartoon last week, but critics pressed for a boycott of the state capital's only daily newspaper. Nate White, president of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People's Sacramento chapter, urged the resignations of editorial cartoonist Dennis Renault and editorial page editor Peter Schrag, while a city councilman pushed for passage of a resolution denouncing the Bee.

The Sacramento Bee has fired one of its top political reporters after finding out that he invented sources and made up quotes while covering the presidential campaign. In an apology to readers published Wednesday, Executive Editor Rick Rodriguez said the paper fired Dennis Love, 46, on Tuesday--four days after an editor discovered that the veteran reporter had plagiarized material from a magazine.

A newspaper photographer who returned safely from such flash points as Panama, Haiti and Somalia was in serious condition Tuesday after being savagely beaten while taking pictures for a springtime feature here. John Trotter, 36, a photographer for the Sacramento Bee, had been photographing children frolicking in record high temperatures Monday when a group of eight to 12 men demanded his film and began beating him.

The Sacramento Bee has fired one of its top political reporters after finding out that he invented sources and made up quotes while covering the presidential campaign. In an apology to readers published Wednesday, Executive Editor Rick Rodriguez said the paper fired Dennis Love, 46, on Tuesday--four days after an editor discovered that the veteran reporter had plagiarized material from a magazine.

A newspaper photographer who returned safely from such flash points as Panama, Haiti and Somalia was in serious condition Tuesday after being savagely beaten while taking pictures for a springtime feature here. John Trotter, 36, a photographer for the Sacramento Bee, had been photographing children frolicking in record high temperatures Monday when a group of eight to 12 men demanded his film and began beating him.

The Sacramento Bee apologized Tuesday to readers who were offended by its use of a racial epithet in an editorial cartoon last week, but critics pressed for a boycott of the state capital's only daily newspaper. Nate White, president of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People's Sacramento chapter, urged the resignations of editorial cartoonist Dennis Renault and editorial page editor Peter Schrag, while a city councilman pushed for passage of a resolution denouncing the Bee.

Investigators from Cal/EPA searched the press room of the Sacramento Bee, apparently looking for evidence of illegally disposed hazardous wastes. The investigators used a search warrant to enter the building Monday. The newspaper uses ink, cleaning solvents and other chemicals to print its editions. A spokesman said the Bee complies with all federal, state and local regulations that cover the storage and disposal of hazardous substances used at its plant.

The Sacramento Bee won the Pulitzer Prize gold medal for public service Tuesday for a series of 15 stories on environmental threats and damage to the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Bee reporter Deborah Blum also won a Pulitzer--in the beat reporting category--for "The Monkey Wars," stories examining the moral and ethical issues involved in primate research. The New York Times and Newsday joined the Bee in winning two Pulitzers each.

Sacramento Kings' center Ralph Sampson threatened to beat up a newspaper reporter, apparently over a column that called the former All-Star one of basketball's "great disappointments." Sampson interrupted an interview Sacramento Bee reporter R.E. Graswich was holding with Kings' player personnel director Jerry Reynolds before Tuesday's 114-105 loss to the Clippers. "If you ever write something about me without talking to me again, I'll punch you in the nose," the Bee quoted Sampson as saying.

McClatchy Inc., owner of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Sacramento Bee, received at least three bids for two Philadelphia newspapers that it plans to sell as part of its purchase of publisher Knight Ridder Inc. David Black, chief executive of Canada's Black Press Ltd., said he made an offer.

Tentative dates for taking depositions in U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt's $250-million libel suit against the Sacramento Bee newspaper have been scheduled by a federal magistrate. Laxalt (R-Nev.) is expected to face up to five days of questioning by attorneys for the newspaper, beginning in early October. Laxalt filed his suit against the Bee after an article accused him of using men with questionable associations to help finance a Carson City casino owned by the Laxalt family.

A coalition of organized labor groups, acting at the request of the Northern California Newspaper Guild, on Thursday urged a subscription boycott of the Sacramento Bee newspaper to protest a breakdown in contract negotiations over merit wage increases. Following the example of other unions, the Guild is looking for ways to put pressure on management without calling a strike, according to Jerry Rocker, a unit administrative officer.